Line graduated in Veterinary Medicine from Copenhagen University, Denmark in 2011 and has completed research projects at the Animal Health Trust (AHT) and Cornell University and Copenhagen University. In 2009 she was awarded a scholarship from Copenhagen University to work in Professor Lisa Fortier’s Laboratory, Cornell University, where she acquired knowledge about stem cell biology, with a particular focus on epigenetic factors. The results of her research project were published in Stem Cell and Development. In 2010 she was awarded the Cornell Leadership and Research scholarship that provided her with further research experience.

Line is currently a PhD-student supervised by Dr.Ing Thilo Pfau (Royal Veterinary College) and Dr. Sue Dyson (AHT). Line aims to document movement adaptations of the limbs and back observed in horses with lameness, before and after diagnostic analgesia; to understand better how lameness in one or more limbs modifies gait; to establish if there are consistent ways in which pain from a particular source modifies gait and back movement and to quantify the effects of loading on the gait and back movement. This study provides a unique opportunity to study both theoretical and practical aspects of equine locomotion by combining the considerable strengths in research and clinical practice of the Royal Veterinary College and the AHT. Line hopes to contribute to an improved understanding of the relationship between lameness, back movement and back pain which may ultimately improve our ability to manage and prevent lameness and back problems, for the long term benefit of equine welfare.

Qualifications:

DVM, MRCVS, PhD-student

Research programmes:

Line has a special interest in equine orthopedics, and through her background as a dressage rider competing at National Championship level in Denmark, a particular interest in performance problems in sports horses. As a result of the research project she has carried out in the last year during her internship at the AHT, she wishes to explore further what modifications in gait induce saddle slip and how horses, in the face of lameness, adapt their gait and back movement. This is an unexplored field, despite the large number of lame horses and horses having back pain and saddle fitting problems. It therefore has major welfare implications for horses worldwide. This is a really practical project, which will combine clinical observation and scientific study.

The Animal Health Trust is a veterinary charity, based in Suffolk, which offers clinical referral services and diagnostic testing for horses, dogs and cats in East Anglia, across the UK and internationally. Through its research programmes it develops new diagnostic tests, treatments and vaccines to help thousands of animals.